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Linfield Reports, 11/1/10

MUSIC WORKSHOP, CONCERT SET

Singer and songwriter Kris Gruen will present a music workshop and concert Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Delkin Recital Hall in the Vivian A. Bull Music Center at Linfield.

Gruen, along with Charles Newman, a producer and musician with Mother West Records, will present a workshop on the music business discussing recording, licensing and general career building concepts in today’s music industry. The workshop will be followed by a set of Gruen’s songs from his new album, “Part of it All.” The arrangement for the performance includes acoustic guitar, pump organ, melodica, Nashville tuned acoustic, glockenspiel, percussion and piano.

Gruen is a Vermont-based singer-songwriter. Building off of the lush, whisper-folk of his 2006 debut album “Lullaby School” (Mother West), Gruen’s sophomore release, “Part of It All,” adds innovative, eclectic, and electrified new approaches to the songs and production. He has collaborated and recorded with drummer Butch Norton (The Eels, Lucinda Williams, Rufus Wainright), bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Dixie Chicks), Nashville’s Jason Goforth on lapsteel and drummer Nick Brown from New York City’s The Dig. Since the release of “Lullaby School,” Gruen has toured the US, sharing the stage with Sean Lennon, The Avett Brothers, Bishop Allen, Jesse Malin, Nicole Atkins, Anais Mitchell, The Bowmans and others.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 503-883-2275.

THEATRE PRESENTS ‘LEND ME A TENOR’

Ken Ludwig’s comedy Lend Me a Tenor gives new meaning to double lives and provides a way for Linfield students to showcase their talent.

The Linfield Theatre, now in its 91st season, will present this award-winning play Nov. 4-6 and 11-13 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Marshall Theatre in Ford Hall.

“The play is well-written and very clever,” said Janet Gupton, director and associate professor of theatre.

Lend Me a Tenor, a 2010 Tony Award nominee for best revival of a play, previously won three Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards.

The play is set in 1934 when Saunders, the general manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome world famous Tito Morelli, Il Stupendo, the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as Otello. The star arrives late and, through a series of mishaps, is given a double dose of tranquilizers and passes out. In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Max, Saunders’ assistant, fools the audience into thinking he’s Il Stupendo, but Morelli comes to and is ready to perform. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo.

“Audiences want to come to the theatre to laugh and enjoy a respite from their own hectic schedules,” Gupton said. “It is a very fast-moving humorous farce that is fun to direct. While light-hearted in content, it challenges the comedic timing of the actors.”

An immense collaboration has occurred among the cast, crew, designers and director throughout the production in order to create a successful show.

“Farces like ‘Lend Me a Tenor’ are very popular and widely produced,” said Gupton. “Our student actors, crew members and designers could easily be asked to work on this type of play once they go into professional or community theatre.”

Large responsibilities for the production of the play have been given to students. Alessa Karlin ’11, a theatre major, is the set designer, and Steven Stewart ’11, a theatre and history major, is the costume designer. Katie Grainey ’13, is assistant lighting designer.

“I have never designed a set before so it’s continually a learning experience,” said Karlin. “Opening night is the biggest reward. It’s like my ‘baby.’ It’s exciting to think that my design has helped the production become a reality.”

Tickets are $9 for full price; $7 for seniors (62+) and Linfield faculty and staff; and $5 for students; with a $2 discount on all tickets on opening night. Seating is reserved. Tickets are available on the web at www.linfield.edu/arts-and-culture.html, by phone, or in person at the Marshall Theatre Box Office. Located just inside the lobby of Ford Hall, the box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 3-5 p.m., and until 7:30 p.m. on performance days. The box office will also be open Nov. 6 and 13 from 3-7:30 p.m., and from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7. The box office is closed Mondays.

The Marshall Theatre is fully accessible. Contact the box office directly if you require accessible seating. Assisted listening devices are available at each performance. For more information, call 503-883-2292.

GOLDSMITH FACULTY RECITAL SET

The Linfield College Music Department will present a faculty recital featuring guitarist Pamela Goldsmith and guest pianist Rhonda Ringering Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Delkin Recital Hall in the Vivian A. Bull Music Center.

Goldsmith, award-winning guitarist and adjunct professor of music, will perform on classical guitar. She will play selected works by Fransico Tarrega and Hector Villa-Lobos, among others. Goldsmith currently teaches private and group classes at Linfield, is a guitar instructor at the St. Johns Community Center and maintains a private teaching studio. She received a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar studies from the University of Maine in Orono and a master’s in classical guitar performance from Portland State University.

Ringering will play works from Scott Pender and Jeff Winslow, among others. She is a solo and collaborative performer of both classical and jazz piano venues. She has appeared several times with Oregon Chamber Players and is a member of the Ringering/Wheeler piano duo with pianist Molly Wheeler, a 1997 graduate of Linfield. Ringering received her bachelor’s degree from Walla Walla University and her master’s from Boston University.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 503-883-2275.

AMBASSADOR TO DISCUSS ARAB PEACE

Ambassador David Mack will present “Arab/Israeli Peace and Why it is Important to U.S. National Security” on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall at Linfield College.

Mack has been at the forefront of events in the Middle East and helped to shape U.S. policy in the region for more than 30 years. He has expertise in Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and U.S. foreign policy. He is the former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs, where he provided political support for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and promoted U.S. business interests in the Middle East. During his career in the U.S. Foreign Service, he was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. His diplomatic assignments have included Iraq, Jordan, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia.

After leaving government service, Mack was senior counselor at C&O Resources, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm. Currently, he is chairman of the U.S. Libya Business Association. In addition to presenting the lecture, Mack will participate in class discussions with Linfield students.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Departments of History and Political Science and the President’s Office. For more information, call 503-883-2202.

OLIVEIRA TO READ AT NICHOLSON

In Oliveira’s historical novel, published by Viking, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, headstrong midwife from Albany, N.Y., who dreams of becoming a surgeon. She leaves home and travels to Washington, D.C., to tend to soldiers wounded in the Civil War, determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine and eager to run away from recent heartbreak. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens, two surgeons who fall in love with Sutter’s courage, and resisting her mother’s pleas to return home to help with the birth of her twin sister’s baby, Sutter continues to pursue her medical career.

Oliveira received her B.A. in Russian and studied at the Pushkin Language Institute in Moscow, U.S.S.R. She is a registered nurse and received her MFA in writing in 2006 from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and won the James Jones First Novel Fellowship in 2007. Oliveira is the parent of Linfield junior creative writing major, Miles Oliveira.

The reading, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Nicholson Library and the Linfield English Department. For more information contact Susan Barnes Whyte at 503-883-2517 or swhyte@linfield.edu.

LINFIELD ONE OF TOP PRODUCERS

Linfield College was included in the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the top Fulbright producers, listed in the bachelor degree section. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of colleges and universities that produced the most 2010-11 U.S. Fulbright students. Four winners from Linfield included Ashley Bennett ’10 to Germany, Krista Foltz ’10 to Chile, Lily Niland ’10 to Peru and Brett Tolman ’10 to Sri Lanka.

LINFIELD NURSES ANSWER DONOR NEED

The Linfield Student Nurses Associations and Blue Dot Society are offering the Linfield community the chance to save someone’s life by joining a national donor program.

Be the Match Registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, will be in the Peterson Hall Photo Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. By becoming a member of the registry, participants could be a match for a patient in critical need. Joining the registry is easy – a simple cheek swab. Patients need donors between the ages of 18 and 60, in good general health and willing to donate to any patient in need.

A Pasta Feed fundraiser will be held Monday, Nov. 1, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Peterson Hall Photo Gallery. A $3 minimum donation will benefit the Be the Match Registry.